Santorum and Obama neck and neck in Pennsylvania

Romney, who trails the president by 6 percentage points in latest poll, gets endorsement from Ridge.

March 14, 2012|By Colby Itkowitz, Of The Morning Call

Cutting into Mitt Romney's electability argument, Rick Santorum is statistically tied in a head-to-head matchup with President Barack Obama in Pennsylvania. And the former Pennsylvania senator leads the Republican pack in the state.

Obama has 45 percent support to Santorum's 44 percent, according to a poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University. Obama tops Romney in support, 46 percent to 40 percent; Gingrich, 50 percent to 37 percent, and Ron Paul, 45 percent to 40 percent.

Meanwhile, on the heels of a group of establishment Republicans endorsing Mitt Romney in Harrisburg this week, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge declared his support for the former Massachusetts governor on Wednesday.

Ridge, who served as the nation's first Homeland Security secretary, was an early supporter of presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman. Huntsman, after dropping out, threw his support behind Romney.

"Having spent most my life in public service, as a soldier, as a congressman, as a governor of Pennsylvania, as a White House official, and as a secretary of Homeland Security, I've met accomplished and strong leaders in my life. Mitt Romney is one of them. He would bring to the presidency an extraordinary set of skills," Ridge said in a statement sent out by the Romney campaign.

Romney can use all the help he can get in Pennsylvania, where the state's former U.S. senator, Rick Santorum, is leading by double digits ahead of the April 24 primary.

The new poll found Santorum with 36 percent of registered Republican support and Romney with 22 percent.

The poll was conducted March 7 through Monday and surveyed 1,256 registered voters, including 508 registered Republicans.

Tim Malloy, Quinnipiac pollster, said Santorum's standing among the Republican electorate and the statewide electorate was "remarkable" given his dramatic ouster from the Senate by Democrat Bob Casey in 2006.

"It is an eye-opener," Malloy said. "Santorum is a comeback kid in his own state."

Despite taking controversial stands on abortion and other family issues, Santorum leads Romney 41 percent to 18 percent among GOP women voters, a margin that Malloy ascribes to Santorum's image as a family man.

"He's young. He's got that family standing behind him ... ," Malloy said. "And these are Republican women," who tend to be strong on family issues.

The poll results are also compelling for the Santorum campaign's argument that Newt Gingrich should step aside. When matched up head-to-head in Pennsylvania, Santorum trumps Romney 52 percent to 32 percent.

Despite Santorum's statistical tie with Obama in a head-to-head match, Obama outperforms all four current GOP candidates when voters are asked which of them is the most in touch with their needs. A clear majority, 54 percent, of voters say the Democratic president "cares about the needs and problems" of Americans.

Forty-eight percent answer the same way about Santorum, compared with just 31 percent for Romney and 29 percent for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Texas Congressman Ron Paul does best — with half of voters saying he is most in touch with their concerns.

"He hasn't been branded as an elitist as some accuse Mitt Romney [of being]. Nor is he the insider as some accuse Newt Gingrich of being," he said.

Also Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, an annual meeting of conservatives in the state, announced that Santorum will attend their meeting in Harrisburg on March 24. Other high-profile Republicans scheduled to attend are former presidential candidate Herman Cain, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and no-tax-hike guru Grover Norquist.